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Jane Foster offers a guide to Korčula for cruise passengers, featuring what to see and do, and where to eat.

Gettting around

Big cruise ships drop anchor close to Korčula Town and bring passengers ashore by tender to the quayside directly in front of the medieval historic centre, which is pedestrian-only and can comfortably be explored on foot in half a day. There’s a small tourist information centre on the seafront at Obala Dr Franje Tudjmana bb, T020-715701.

Where to eat and drink

$$Adio Mare

On the go since 1974, this family-run restaurant does barbecued meat and fish dishes, plus hearty Dalmatian favourites such as pašticada (beef stewed in wine and prunes, served with gnocchi). The setting is a stone-walled dining room with an open-plan kitchen – you might be expected to share a table with other diners when it’s busy.

In the small hill village of Pupnat, this friendly agritourism serves gourmet dishes in the farmhouse’s courtyard garden. All the produce used is either their own or locally-sourced and the menu changes with the seasons. House specialities include homemade ravioli, lamb casserole, and herb-infused sorbets.

What to see and do

Cathedral

Visible from afar thanks to its elegant 15th-century bell tower, the Gothic-Renaissance Cathedral presides over the main square. The building you see today was completed in the 1525, on the site of an older church, of which the 13th-century Romanesque portal, flanked by two finely carved lions, remains.

Inside, you can see two works by the esteemed Venetian Renaissance painter, Tintoretto (1518-1594) – his early ‘St Mark with St Bartholomew and St Jerome’ above the main alter, and the ‘Annunciation’ in the southern nave.

The cathedral is visible from afar thanks to its elegant 15th-century bell tower

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City Museum

On the main square, opposite the Cathedral, this museum occupies a fine 16th-century Renaissance palazzo. There’s a small archaeological collection including the famed Lumbardska Psefizma (a stone tablet inscribed in ancient Greek in the fourth-century BC, testifying to early Greek settlement on the island), models of antiquated vessels produced in Korčula’s shipyard, and a charming ‘old kitchen’ complete with 16th-century cooking utensils.

Just off the main square, behind the Cathedral, this old stone building claims to be the birthplace of legendary explorer Marco Polo (1254-1324). Climb up to the watchtower for fine views over the surrounding terracotta rooftops and out to sea, but bare in mind that the house as it stands today was constructed several centuries after Polo’s death.

This old stone building claims to be the birthplace of legendary explorer Marco Polo

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Excursions

Wine tasting trip

Take a boat ride across the narrow sea channel to Orebić on Pelješac peninsular, where Croatia’s top red wines, Dingač and Postup, are produced. Organised wine-tasting tours take you to the Miloš and Grgić vineyards, and conclude at the Bartulović winery, for lunch in a traditional stone konoba (wine cellar). See http://www.vinarijabartulovic.hr for details.

Pupnatska Luka

A lovely fine pebble beach with a couple of informal eateries gives onto this stunning deep turquoise-blue bay on the island’s south coast. It lies 19 km from Korčula Town, close to the village of Pupnat, where you’ll also find Konoba Mate (see "Where to eat and drink" above). You’ll need to hire a car or moped to get here – there is a sporadic bus service to Pupnat but then you still have a half-hour walk before you reach the beach.